Another glimpse quantifying the investment boom in Britain’s grid-scale batteries came this morning, with debutant fund Harmony Energy Income Trust publishing its first performance numbers since its incorporation last October.
Harmony raised £210 million at its IPO in November. Reporting today for its first seven months up to May, it disclosed a net asset value rising just under 9%, to £228.7 million.
Increased projections of revenue garnered by its 213 MW storage portfolio, independently verified to be 17% ahead of expectations, accounted for much of the rise.
Progressing its five locations of colossal coulomb crèches from ‘shovel ready’ to ‘under construction’ drove the value enhancements in Harmony’s project stack.
Accelerated dates for the storage devices’ installation or operation boosted Harmony’s value. Last week it signed its latest construction contract, for a 49.5 MW/ 99MWh battery at Little Raith in Fife.
From the fund’s 213 MW portfolio at the end of April, Harmony expects by January to have 109MW in operation, and a further 203MW under construction.
The fund’s full current battery roster is as below:
| Project | MW / MWh | Location | Target Commercial Operations Date | Status |
| Pillswood | 98 / 196 | Yorkshire | November 2022 | Under Construction |
| Broadditch | 11 / 22 | Kent | December 2022 | Under Construction |
| Farnham | 20 / 40 | Surrey | March 2023 | Under Construction |
| Rusholme | 35 / 70 | Yorkshire | April 2023 | Under Construction |
| Little Raith | 49.5 / 99 | Fife | October 2023 | Under Construction |
| Total | 213.5 MW / 427 MWh |
A £60 million credit line signed last month with NatWest will enable purchase and construction of the fund’s first pipeline project known as “Bumpers”, due from the fund’s 12 year old elder sister, the developers Harmony Energy. This is anticipated to be a 99 MW / 198 MWh project, already offered at the IPO under exclusive right of first refusal.
Once Bumpers is acquired, the Company’s portfolio will increase to six projects with total capacity of 312.5 MW / 625 MWh, all located in Britain.
In September, the developers Harmony Energy began construction of the UK’s biggest power stack, the 99MW/198MWh amp accommodation at Clay Tye, next to the M25 in Essex.
Announcing the fund’s maiden results, chair Norman Crighton enthused: “We have made a strong start to life, delivering excellent progress across our portfolio with our entire seed portfolio now under construction”.
Increased medium-term revenue forecasts gave the trust’s directors further confidence that dividends will become increasingly well-covered, Crighton noted, including an 8 pence per share target for 2023 onwards.
“BESS projects in Great Britain are currently enjoying record levels of revenues across multiple markets.” Crighton observed.
“We now have 213.5 MW / 427 MWh of projects fully contracted and under construction and our portfolio is diversified across five projects. (We are) laying a foundation for portfolio expansion into 2023 and beyond, taking advantage of the continuing growth opportunity in the battery market”
Market reaction was good. By late morning the fund’s share price had ticked up 0.7%, still below year highs seen in May.
